The present invention relates to comestibles sweetened with Alitame. More particularly, the invention relates to chewing gum containing Alitame wherein the stability of the Alitame is improved.
Alitame is a high-potency sweetener with a chemical composition of L-.alpha.-Aspartyl-N-(2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-3-thietanyl)-D-alaninamide hydrate. This sweetener, which is not yet approved for use in food products and chewing gum, is being considered by the FDA as a food additive. The manufacturer of Alitame is the Pfizer Corporation of Groton, Connecticut. Alitame is considered to be about 2000 times as sweet as sugar, and 5 to 10 times as sweet as aspartame. Aspartame, another dipeptide high-potency sweetener, is a wellknown comestible ingredient, but also has problems in that it degrades in the presence of water, and is especially unstable at pH's below 3 and above 5. Several patents have discussed various procedures for preventing degradation of aspartame into non-sweetening decomposition products. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,854 suggests that comestible compositions such as chewing gum containing unencapsulated aspartame may be protected against moisture induced degradation by including freely dispersed hydrogenated starch hydrolysate (HSH) in the comestible. The patent suggests that preferably 7 to 15% HSH is used, and that 70 to 80% or more of the aspartame is recoverable after 24 days of storage at 105.degree. F. and 30% relative humidity. The patent also states that liquid sorbitol, in lieu of HSH, does not provide compositions in which the aspartame is very stable over long periods of time.
Japanese Pat. Application Publication 59-173066 discloses the use of various saccharides, including hydrogenated starch hydrolysates, as providing an aspartame stability effect in high water content food products.
U.S. Pats. Nos. 4,753,806 and 4,774,094 disclose the use of "cooked" HSH solutions to stabilize aspartame and make a flexible gum. Other patents teach the use of aspartame and HSH in chewing gum. For example, PCT Application PCT/US83/0173, published as WO 85/01862 on May 9, 1985, (which appears to be the equivalent disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,565) discloses the use in sugarless gum of aspartame encapsulated with a syrup which includes HSH.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,431 discloses a chewing gum which optionally includes both HSH and aspartame.
Alitame has been suggested for use in chewing gum. Such use has been disclosed in several patents U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,925 discloses simple addition of Alitame in gum. U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,396 discloses combinations of Alitame and Acesulfame K in foods including chewing gum. These patents, however, do not discuss Alitame stability.
Alitame has been found to be relatively unstable and susceptible to degradation in chewing gums containing certain ingredients. This result was rather unexpected since Alitame has been shown to be much more stable in aqueous solutions than aspartame, and therefore, was expected to be much more stable in chewing gum. It would be considered a significant improvement to a chewing gum or other comestible to have the Alitame used to sweeten the comestible protected from such degradation.